The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly -- Welcome Back Thomas Vanek!

We would've negated our power play when we were down 2-1, though I wouldn't have minded if someone stood up for him. Also, interesting that you thought Stafford was good, I thought he was average at best. I did like him sticking up for Ennis though.

I would've liked to see Scott after Hartnell got out of the box, should have made that clearer. I think by the time he was out again, we were already up by two. It's why he's in the lineup, so guys like Hartnell don't take those liberties, especially with our captain.

Also, I noticed Stafford from the get go. Was one of the higher energy guys on the ice. He's finally becoming the power forward we all hoped he would be. I really liked his interview that I heard on WGR when coming home from the game too, about how he's not a fighter, but he remarked about how they all have to be tougher to play against, not just with fighting but taking the body. I doubted giving him the A last year, but if he continues to play like he did today he'll absolutely deserve it. Also had a great pass to Vanek (after the tremendous pass from Pominville) one of his goals.

I would've liked to see Scott after Hartnell got out of the box, should have made that clearer. I think by the time he was out again, we were already up by two. It's why he's in the lineup, so guys like Hartnell don't take those liberties, especially with our captain.

Also, I noticed Stafford from the get go. Was one of the higher energy guys on the ice. He's finally becoming the power forward we all hoped he would be. I really liked his interview that I heard on WGR when coming home from the game too, about how he's not a fighter, but he remarked about how they all have to be tougher to play against, not just with fighting but taking the body. I doubted giving him the A last year, but if he continues to play like he did today he'll absolutely deserve it. Also had a great pass to Vanek (after the tremendous pass from Pominville) one of his goals.

Admittedly I didn't pay much attention to Stafford so I'll take your word for it.

I like the new look of our team, just having Ott is such a joy to watch knowing he's going to finish every check, they played with a lot of enthusiasm and passion in the 1st and 3rd. Hopefully they can channel that and have less of those 2nd periods.

Ruff made it seem like that he was purposely sheltering Grigs in his first game to try and calm his nerves in his post game comments, I expect Grigs to play a much larger role and be more comfortable in Tomorrows game. I thought he played well for one of if not the youngest player in the NHL.

G:
Vanek. 5 points Nuff said. Vanek should be a Sabre for life. 6/30 after next season please, he must be extended.
Poms. Was great today, Poms and Vanek are definitely one of the best RW-LW duos in the whole league
Miller was solid.
Sekera was very good, he was very calm all game and had some good rushes, I really liked his game.
Ott. I loved his game and I am liking the Roy trade more and more. He really likes being here, he is the perfect Buffalo Sabre. Another guy who needs to be extended.

B:
Got nothing. We beat one of our most vicious rivals 5-2.I am very excited for the season.

-Stafford was a beast all night. He was throwing checks and taking the body from the get-go, and the fight just solidified how good he was. My second star of the game, right after
-Thomas Vanek. How can you complain about a 5 point day?
-Miller was solid when he had to be, and the two goals weren't his fault.
-Ott was great. Threw his body around, was good defensively, obviously the goal.
-I liked Ennis' effort, even though he didn't make very many productive plays.

B:

-The passing was atrocious, but I guess that's to be expected.
-Not sending out Scott after Pommers got boarded. Nobody sticking up for him (Come on, Ehrhoff).
-Didn't like how unaggressive we were on the PK. Other than Hodgson, it didn't seem like anyone wanted to get in the way or rush to a man to try and poke check.

U:

-The crowd was terrible. Our corner of the building was the only one I consistently heard "Let's Go Buffalo" chants from, and it died out immediately. My section (318) was bad except for a few people, but I was so disappointed with the crowd. One of the worst I've heard, and on opening day/home opener/first game after the lockout? Come on, man.
-The goal horn is much quieter. I don't know who made that decision, but it was disheartening.

No ****ing clue what happened between the first week of the Amerks season and now but Cody Hodgson has never been quicker. He looks smoother and faster than he did during the WJC years ago. To me that was the one thing holding him back from truly being a star. Remember that with all of the Jordan Eberle and Tavares Magical Play hype Hodgson was the guy who started most of those plays.

Grigorenko will probably benefit more lighting up the Q again then playing 11 minutes/night on the 3rd line. At 18 years old, unless you are given a substantial role on the team ala Jeff Skinner on the Canes his rookie season, I think it is detrimental to the development process.

Grigorenko will probably benefit more lighting up the Q again then playing 11 minutes/night on the 3rd line. At 18 years old, unless you are given a substantial role on the team ala Jeff Skinner on the Canes his rookie season, I think it is detrimental to the development process.

I'm torn on this argument. He will benefit from feeling NHL speed, strength, and pressure, but the potential is there for him to become overwhelmed.

If he's able to stay in a 3C role, that helps a lot. Think Couturier from last year.

If he is playing with Ott/Leino he will get plenty of opportunities to succeed. However I saw him out there for Kaleta, Hecht, Scott...The guy is not even close to the same type of player Couturier is. Couturier is similar to a Ryan Kesler type player. Grigs is more of a Malkin type player. Methodical and a play maker. He is not a shut-down guy.

If he is playing with Ott/Leino he will get plenty of opportunities to succeed. However I saw him out there for Kaleta, Hecht, Scott...The guy is not even close to the same type of player Couturier is. Couturier is similar to a Ryan Kesler type player. Grigs is more of a Malkin type player. Methodical and a play maker. He is not a shut-down guy.

He never played with Scott. Thats the 2nd time someone has made this claim and its false.

The Ugly: The sarcastic, snide comments anytime a player who is getting called out finally does something good is back from last season. Look to the Myers goal for what I'm talking about. He played well the first 10 minutes of the game but couldn't make or handle a pass for the next period and a half to save his life. Many posters commented on this. As soon as he scored the goal the GDT gets bombarded with "LOL MYERS IS SO BAD AMIRITE". It's always the posters who don't have enough balls to form their own opinion and post it for fear of being nitpicked that do this. It was ****ing annoying last year and it's annoying this year. It adds nothing to the GDT. If you think that the opinions people are forming goes against the way you see things post your opinion on why they're wrong, don't wait until that player does something well to make yourself look good. It's pathetic really.

The Ugly: The sarcastic, snide comments anytime a player who is getting called out finally does something good is back from last season. Look to the Myers goal for what I'm talking about. He played well the first 10 minutes of the game but couldn't make or handle a pass for the next period and a half to save his life. Many posters commented on this. As soon as he scored the goal the GDT gets bombarded with "LOL MYERS IS SO BAD AMIRITE". It's always the posters who don't have enough balls to form their own opinion and post it for fear of being nitpicked that do this. It was ****ing annoying last year and it's annoying this year. It adds nothing to the GDT. If you think that the opinions people are forming goes against the way you see things post your opinion on why they're wrong, don't wait until that player does something well to make yourself look good. It's pathetic really.

Had a guy sitting behind me today that was like this, very annoying. I saw some good stick work and pysicality from TyMy, passing was off for a few guys, hopefully just offseason rust

Good:
-Starting the season with a win against a good team
-Won the battle in the face-off dot
-Out hit a physical flyers team
-Out shot a high shooting flyers team
-No injuries
-Vanek-Hodgson-Pomminville looks to be a legit #1 line, they were creating loads of chances
-3 PPG goals!?!?!?!?

Bad:
-Some sloppy penalties and defensive zone play
-Myers/Leo were the two I thought needed to clean up their play the most. Leo had a good 3rd period and Myers with the GWG so both are a wash
-Refs bungling calls and making special teams the deciding factor instead of 5 on 5

the good
- Hodgson was an "everything" player. He was doing everything, he was involved in everything. Hockey IQ is off the charts. Just give it time boys.
- Vanek starting the season with a beast of a game. love that he exploded after that 1 shift benching.
- Ott, Foligno, Staff, Kaleta - elements of physical play throughout the lineup.
- a #1 line, used like a #1 line... the Cody line led all forwards with 19 minutes a piece.
- pretty balanced ice time on the blue line. Sekera, Myers, Ehrhoff, Regehr led the ES ice time....
- Grigorenko did not look out of place, and wasn't a liability
- 4th liners getting 4th line minutes. I think Lindy would've wanted to get them a shift or 2 early, but situationally it didn't happen, so they sat.
- Stafford... i love it. i never forgot his reaction to the Drury hit, and always expected the emotion to develop more in his game. held his own too.

the bad
- Miller needs to shake off the rebound issues
- would've liked to see the FES line generate more possession down low
- 2 no goals?
- i get it, we are going to use all 6 on the PK... but boy, i do wish we would see Leopold less.